


Kindred of Irony

by BL_Arata



Category: Death Note
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, M/M, Male Homosexuality, Male Slash, Shinigami, Shonen Ai, Shounen ai, Supernatural - Freeform, Wordcount: 1.000-3.000, Wordcount: 1.000-5.000, Wordcount: 100-1.000, Wordcount: 100-2.000, Wordcount: 100-500, Wordcount: 500-1.000, Yaoi, power, powers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-04-09
Updated: 2014-05-21
Packaged: 2018-01-18 19:40:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,960
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1440367
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BL_Arata/pseuds/BL_Arata
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Light had lost. He was close to death, and yet his only thoughts of regret<br/>was focused on a certain Detective with charcoal eyes.<br/>What will this moment of regret lead to,<br/>and how may the fate of irony change the future of two predestined enemies?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue: Death is not a final good bye

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first DN fanfic, hopefully one of many.  
> As you'll be able to tell, this is AU/AR, so some certain facts might be ignored for the sake of the plot.  
> Hope you'll enjoy it.
> 
> // Arata

Light turned his bloodstained face towards the gun that was pointed in his direction.

Matsuda shook uncontrollably as he tried to steady his hands, holding the gun in a tight grip. "Y-you..!"

He faltered slightly but then his gaze got firm as he stared dispassionately at Chief Yagami's only son.

"You k-killed the chief, you killed your own _father_ ," he hollered at Light. "What kind of monster are you?!"

It was all over, he knew that much. If the dark chuckles of his old shinigami companion was anything to go by, his doom was drawing near.

Strangely enough, he didn't mind at all. He actually looked forward to it.

Three bangs of gunshots was the only thing that could be heard aside from the machines working in the abandoned factory building.

 

He ran. He had nowhere to escape, but he still couldn't stop running. All he could do at this point was flee.

It was a lost cause,  _he_ had lost. With the disgusting sensation of defeat burning in his throat, Light kept running, letting his feet sweep him away.

He was deemed a sore loser, but that couldn't be more than wrong. He silently accepted it, and then haltered in his steps.

Sighing heavily, he let gravity drag him down, falling hard against the cold stairs.

A ray of sunlight crossed his face, before he felt raindrops stain his cheeks.

His gaze lingered at the bullet wound in his chest for a moment,

and then he raised his gaze to stare at the breathtaking beauty of the tormented sky above.

 

The sky turned into a fade shade of gray as rain started falling, pouring down soundlessly as if the angels were crying.

One certain auburn-haired young man panted faintly as he rested against the stairs where he'd fallen out of exhaustion and blood loss.

In the end, it had all been futile.

He didn't regret it, though. Being Kira, that is.

He regretted none of it, except...

The memory of wide charcoal eyes entered his mind.

Yes, that he  _did_ regret. But there was nothing he could do to make a difference, not anymore.

Shallow chuckles escaped his mouth, he just couldn't help himself.

Irony was the last sensation Light Yagami, the Original Kira, was able to feel before his body gave up on him all together.

 

Little did he know, that this was not the final end.

His death was just the beginning of something new.

 


	2. A new beginning

Slowly, Light opened his eyes. 'Wh-what happened? Where am I?'

He stared at the white roof for a moment, and then turned his head slowly to rest on the right side of his comfy pillow.

Confused, Light turned his head left and right, trying to understand what it was he was seeing.

'I'm back in my room,' he wondered in a slight daze. 'But I was sure that...'

His train of thought faltered as he tried to get up from his bed and slowly went to look out of the window.

Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, as he gazed unseeingly at the all too familiar view.

Light's gaze rested on the tiny calendar lying neatly on top of his desk, and then took a few slow steps, just staring at it.

He picked up the calendar warily, almost afraid of what he might discover if he opened it.

A flick of his wrist, and then he froze. The date read May 20th, 2003.

If his memory served him right, this was a week before he found the Death note.

Which means that... 'I've returned to the past,' Light Yagami concluded solemnly.

 

Three days went by without any changes, but those three days was enough to prove that he had indeed traveled to the past.

How that was even possible, he did not know. But he sure wasn't going to let this second chance slip him by, he was going to do it all over.

Except... he was going to do it  _right_ this time.

That also left him another 5 days days to mull over what he was going to do with the note book,

if he assumed that things was indeed going to happen as they had in his previous life time.

'What to do, what to do,' he thought to himself as he put on his shoes and grabbed his schoolbag.

'Should I try to befriend Ryuk this time around?'

 _No_. Ryuk was obviously not a trusting ally, never had been and never would he be.

Coming to that conclusion, it was obvious that picking up the note book once again was also out of the question.

Would that mean that Kira wouldn't exist in this time line?

Or would Ryuk find another human to use for his entertainment and then kill off once he lost his interest?

One thing was for sure, Light wouldn't let himself get in that position again. It just wasn't worth it.

But, that would also mean that he'd have no chance of ever meeting L. For some reason, that thought didn't sit well with him.

"Otoke, otoke..."

 

 As the teacher kept reading out loud from his textbook, Light understood why he'd decided to pick up the note book in the first place.

These days of doing nothing but bowing down to lesser minds wasn't only an insult to his ego, it was downright  _tedious_.

And to think that people had asked how such a bright mind as Light's could belong to a mass murdering sociopath.

It was almost funny that "Kira" had only existed as a result from boredom.

Not out of hatred or old fashioned bloodlust.  _Oh no_ , he was a product of the boredom of a genius.

The conclusion made him snicker, and a few students turned their heads to stare at the star pupil who was trembling in an ill attempt to control his laughter. "Anything you'd like to share with the rest of the class, Yagami-kun," Inoue-sensei asked with a twitching eyebrow.

"No, Sensei. It was nothing," Light said as soon as he had regained his composure.

 

It was now May 26, only three days remaining until the shinigami Ryuk will enter the human realm.

For all the brains Light may possess, he still hadn't figured out his course of action once the deadline was up.

That in itself was a blow to his ego, but he took it all in strides. Surely if he just put all of his mind to it, he would figure something out.

The second blow was when May 28th had finally arrived.

Light hadn't been able to make up his mind of what he should do once the notebook had been dropped.

It came as a surprise to him as he observed how the black notebook fell gracefully to the ground.

Light didn't need any closer look to know what it was.

He got out of his seat and walked out of the classroom without any of the chattering students noticing.

Or rather, someone  _did_ notice, but Light's thoughts was too preoccupied to notice anyone following.

He stopped walking once he was ten feet out of the notebook's reach.

Picking it up was even more tempting this time around, but somehow he gathered enough self control 

to ignore the burning desire and turned to walk in the opposite direction. 

He couldn't pick up that accursed book, doing so would only lead to his demise.

With all the self control he could possibly muster, Light returned to the classroom,

leaving any lingering thoughts of the notebook buried deep into his mind.

Meanwhile, one certain black haired student, the same one that had followed Light without his knowledge,

reached down to pick up the black book Light had been staring at before dismissing it.

'Death Note,' the student thought to himself. 'Is this some kind of a joke?'

 

 

Watching Otoharada's death on the news was all the proof Light needed.

Someone had indeed picked up the notebook, and the notebook's fate was following his.

'So... this might mean that all the killings  _I_ committed as Kira, is still going to happen,' Light thought to himself and his gaze rested on the only family photo he had in his possession.

'But that means that Raye Penber and Misora Naomi will die once again,' he concluded. 'And so will father, and...'

Light tried to stop his train of thought, but it kept throwing in his face. _L!_


	3. Answers don't come cheap... right?

The sensation of despair was swallowing him whole.

The prospect of his father dying on him was admittedly not a very pleasant thought,

but for some reason the idea of L dying affected him in ways his father's couldn't.

That thought in itself brought Light closer to despair and he felt tears slowly brim his eyes.

Just as he raised a hand to wipe at the irritating tears, Light heard a soft chuckle behind him.

A few strands of his hair at his neck raised, and he slowly turned around to look at the stranger.

A figure, positively not Ryuk, but still familiar to Ryuk's rather peculiar appearance, was watching him with interest.

"Who are you," Light asked, albeit in a slight demanding manner.

Whoever the stranger was, it was obviously a shinigami of some kind, and Light held little love for shinigamis in general.

The figure chuckled again. "Who I am is of no importance. You know  _what_ I am, and that's enough," the figure answered in a feminine register.

"But what may  _you_ be?" Light furrowed his eyebrows. "I do not understand what you mean." The figure sighed but elaborated.

"You look like a human, but your scent is way off, so that leads me back to my earlier question; What are you?"

Light tried to understand what the shinigami-look-alike was saying, but couldn't make heads or tails of it.

"You don't know," he asked, testing him. The shinigami bristled. "Of course I know, I..."

The shinigami stopped speaking once he took notice of Light's triumphant grin.

"Y-You tricked me, you little..!" The shinigami sighed, trying to regain his failing composure.

"Well, I _suppose_ there's no reason to beat around the bush, so I'll tell you upfront." Light smirked. "Sounds like a plan."

The pseudo-human was starting to get on his nerves. 'It's no wonder Ryuk killed him,' Imai, the shinigami, grumbled to himself.

"Well, you do know that this whole 'Kira business' was your downfall, right.

And that it would sentence you to a fate worse than death, just like it always has for any other death note users."

"Get to the point, shinigami," Light said. Imai chuckled. "Patience is a virtue, you know, although you apparently have none."

Light's eyebrow twitched. This shinigami was, as hard as that may be to believe, even more annoying than Ryuk ever was.

"In either case," Imai continued. "You were supposed to use the notebook, and meet the same fate as the others. That was  _predestined_."

"So what changed it," Light asked curiously. Imai glanced out of the window for a second, and then focused his gaze on Light.

"You did."

Whatever Light had expected to hear, that certainly wasn't it. "Me? How? How could I have made any difference to..."

Light stopped himself from speaking any further and lowered his gaze with slightly reddened cheeks. It was because of L.

It _had_ to be because of L, otherwise it didn't make any sense as to why his sins had been forgiven in favor of giving him a second chance.

"Because of a certain L Lawliet," Imai said.  The name made Light raise his gaze, and stared wide eyed at the shinigami.

"You.. you mean his name really  _was_ L?" L _had_ used his real name from the beginning, meaning that Light could have killed him

as soon as he had laid his eyes on the detective's thin frame.  _Oh, talk about irony!_

"Yes, but does that really matter? You don't plan to kill him now, do you," Imai asked, fully knowing the answer.

Light opened his mouth to speak, but then closed it, and shook his head in a negative.

"Well, there you go. Now, as I was saying, in your final moment of life you didn't wish to continue living as humans always do.

All you thought of was your dear detective, and that, in essense, is what saved you from your doom."

Light nodded in understanding. So, it  _was_ thanks to the sugar-obsessed man that Light was still among the living.

"So I get another chance," Light asked. Imai shrugged. "Yes and no." Light furrowed his eyebrows. Could the shinigami be more vague than that?

"Yes, in the sense that you are here. But no at the same time because you were never  _meant_ to come back at all.

You were supposed to cease existing, as simple as that." Imai smiled warmly at the teenager. "Which is why I am here. To correct that mistake."

 

Light almost face faulted, but kept his face straight. "You're here to kill me?"

Imai shook his hand dismissively. "oh, hoho, no, not kill you per say, just grant you power."

"Supernatural power?" Imai nodded. "Yes, I believe humans would say that."

"You mean, I have supernatural powers now," Light asked. Imai shook his head in a negative. "No, you don't.  _Not yet_. But with me you will."

Light raised an eyebrow. "How do you mean?"

Imai smiled ominously. "That's simple. We will bond." Light staggered backwards.

"No! That's... that's out of the question. I will not bond with a shinigami!"

Imai blinked, then when it occurred to him what Light was thinking of, a faint shade of pink covered his face.

"Get your mind out of the gutter, boy, that is  _not_ the kind of bond I meant."

Regaining his composure, Imai cheekily added, "besides, you're  _so_ not my type!"

Light's eyebrow twitched in irritation, but he still felt relief. "Then, what kind of bond is it you mean?" Imai chuckled.

"We will join, become entwined, two souls, two minds, in one body. Need I elaborate that, or do you get it on your own, _genius_?"

Light's irritation grew steadily. The shinigami might find him annoying, but the feeling of annoyance was mutual.

"No, you don't. I got it," Light murmured. "So, how do we form this 'bond', then," Light asked the shinigami.

"Just hold my hand," Imai answered. "Everything will fall into place on its own".

While Light had serious doubts of what the shinigami had told him, he decided to humor him this once.

'What do I got to lose,' he thought as he reached out his hand to the shinigami.

Imai took the offered hand in his own, entwining their fingers, and raised his gaze towards the roof.

With no attention payed to Light, Imai screamed at the top of his lungs. "It is done!"

Light didn't know what surprised him more, the shinigami's sudden scream or the following sound of thunder accompanied with an electric wave rushing up his arm.

The sensation was scorching. Light brought his arms to his sides  as if he was trying to embrace himself and just screamed.

He fell to the floor screaming as the burning got worse,  _hotter_. He felt as if he was burning to a crisp, and then... it suddenly stopped.

Light laid in a bundle on the floor, shivering and gasping.

He drew a shallow gasp of breath and pushed himself up from the floor into a sitting position.

It wasn't until a few minutes later that he noticed. The shinigami was gone.

Light shook his head, trying to collect his thoughts. 'Where did the shinigami go?'

 _"I am here,"_ a voice answered. Light turned his head, trying to locate where the voice had come from.

_"In your head. We are one now, remember?"_

'Oh,' Light thought. 'Well, that explains it.' Not really. _"I_   _did tell you that we would become one, did I not?"_ _  
_

Light sighed. Yeah, the shinigami had mentioned something of the kind earlier, but Light hadn't paid it much thought.

 _"Now, I know you feel slightly dizzy, but your dizziness won't get better if you just keep sitting on your bum like that,"_ the shinigami told him.

 _"Get up and look in the mirror, I want to see what we look like."_ Light sighed, but heeded the shinigami's wish.

He got to his feet and went to the dresser, where a full frame mirror hung from the door of the closet. Light froze in shock.

 

Light's eyebrow twitched. 'I blame you,' he silently told the shinigami. Imai huffed in indignation.

 _"How is this **my** fault, you ungrateful prick,"_  Imai said in displeasure, but then an image of him fawning took over.

 _"Besides_ , _we look absolutely gorgeous!"_ Light shook his head. 'No we don't, we look hideous. And feminine!'

 _"What's wrong with looking feminine? Females rocks,"_ the Shinigami let him know.

Light decided not to answer that last remark and instead studied their reflection more closely.

'Well, we may not look  _that_ bad,' Light admitted grudgingly. 'But how am I supposed to explain the different eye color?

And I'm not even going to start on the hair! It should be prohibited to have colors like that.'

Imai chuckled.  _"Well, I don't know. Green eyes are cool. And purple/yellow kind of suits you._

 _If you'd just let your hair grow a little bit longer, we'd look even more fabulous."_ '.....'

Light had nothing to add to that, or rather he didn't want to. 'So, do we go find L now, and warn him about Kira?'

 _"Nope! We got something far more important than Kira to do at the moment,"_ Imai told him. 'Oh? And what may that be, pray tell?'

 _"Shopping for a new wardrobe!"_ Light sweatdropped.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Light's eye and hair color is the same as Neuro's from Majin Tantei Nōgami Neuro.


	4. Metamorphosis

Solely thanks to Imai's whining, Light had, in his opinion, wasted three hours on a shopping spree.

It goes without saying that the result was not something that would've been Light's first pick regarding fashion.

It wouldn't have even been _last_ on his list of which clothings would've been a suitable choice.

Unamused, Light observed his new look in the mirror in the fitting room.

Apart from his new hairdo, which was incredibly messy and made him look like a complete slob, he was wearing a white tank top,

black slacks, an unzipped trenchcoat and as "icing to the cake", a long icy blue scarf loosely around his neck.

'I can't go out wearing this,' Light told Imai. 'I have a front to uphold, and do you know what this will do to it?'

Imai purred as though he was exceedingly pleased with his creation.  _"Sure, that rep of yours will totally go down the drain!"_

Light's eyebrow twitched. Imai felt it wouldn't be safe to say anything else while his other self was in such a cranky mood,

but he couldn't help letting a few chuckles escape his mouth. It amused him greatly how Light was so easy to tease.

 Light grabbed his bag and left the fitting room.

Swiftly he went to the waiting line in front of the pay desk, praying that nobody he knew would see him.

The cashier smiled brightly at him. "That will be 23770,26¥, madame."

'...'

With his lips drawn into a thin line, Light handed over the sum without a word.

His annoyance grew when the shinigami occupying his head started to chuckle.

 

Leaving the store, wearing the new clothes that Imai had insisted he'd keep, Light could feel people's eyes burning at his back.

If he wasn't good at acting indifferent, he would've wished for the ground to swallow him whole to spare him from embarrassment.

"Excuse me, miss," a voice stopped Light in his tracks.  _Miss?_   Far from pleased, Light said, "I'm male."

The stranger, a tall brown haired male with gentle eyes, froze. "Oh! I.. I'm sorry," he stuttered. "I thought that..."

Light sighed. And yet another guy who mistook him for a woman. "No problem," he said with a forced smile. "I get that a lot."

The stranger nodded, and blushed sweetly. He raised his downcast eyes, and hesitated. Light tilted his head to the side.

"Was there something you wanted to ask me?" The man's blush deepened.

"W-well, my name's Ishii Mamoru. Could I perhaps buy you a cup of coffee, or something?"

'Oh, my god! He's flirting with me,' Light screamed inside his head. 

_"Yes, that much is obvious, but please don't shout. I'_ _m not deaf yet and I'd very much prefer if it stayed that way."_

'Gomen,' Light said apologetically. 'But what should I do?' Imai forgave him, but grinned cheekily.  _"Let **me** handle this."_

Light felt a strange sensation as if his control was slipping away, and then his mouth opened to speak.

"Hmm, that's a very generous offer of you, hon," Imai said while speaking through Light.

Imai raised one hand to pull Mamoru closer, and then let his lips gently grace Mamoru's cheek. 

"However, you would never be able to _afford_ me." Imai let go off Mamoru and walked away in a slight suggestive manner.

He turned his head to look at Mamoru's shell shocked figure, sticking out his tongue and winked.

Whistling on a merry tune, he pointedly ignored Light's displeased shouting.

Ishii Mamoru stayed in the same spot Light/Imai had left him, with one hand cupping his reddened cheek.

 

Nobody was at home when Light had finally reached his house, something that Light felt very grateful for.

While he was a smooth talker, he didn't feel all too confident explaining to his parents why he looked like a bishōnen.

_"Light?"_

Light ignored the shinigami. He was far from petty, but he refused to forgive his behavior towards the Ishii fellow.

_"Hey, don't ignore me! I said I was sorry!"_

Light shook his head, but decided to let the shinigami off the hook. Just this once.

'Fine, fine, I forgive you. But don't do that to me again. _Ever_."

Imai nodded. _"I won't. I promise."_ Good. Light sighed, and laid to rest on his bed.

'Hey, shinigami?'

_"Hmm?"_

'I was thinking, since we are one being now, couldn't you tell me your name, at least?'

_"... It's... Imai."_

'...'

_"What?"_

'You didn't look like an Imai, to me.'

The shinigami had no time to give a come back to Light's rather odd reasoning, for the lady of the house, Yagami Sachiko, had returned home.

 

 

_Meanwhile, at an unknown location in Great Britain_

"Ryuuzaki," Watari's voice was heard through the laptop's speaker. L slowly pressed a digit to a key, switching on his microphone.

"Yes," L said, and added another sugar cube to his small tower. "You should probably take a look at this,"

Watari said and then an attached file showed up on screen. L browsed though the file, meanwhile adding sugar cubes to the tower.

'Heartattacks... at this amount, it seems far to many to be explained as a natural cause,' L mused, pressing a digit to his mouth and added another sugar cube to the tower. One theory after another went through L's mind as he added sugar cube after sugar cube to the tower.

The weight was too much for the tower to handle, and it fell in cascades all over the desk.

L scoped up a handful cubes and let them fall into his teacup. Using a vanilla flavored lollipop as spoon, he slowly stirred the tea

and then put the lollipop on a napkin and used his other hand to raise the cup in a spider like manner. 

"Watari?"

"Yes?" 

L took a zip of the rosemary tea, and then said, "Pack a bag, we're heading to Japan."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Regarding this chapter, I'm not completely satisfied with it. Light got too OOC in my taste.  
> Almost feel like I had a great idea, and butchered it completely. *despair*  
> Next chapter will have a slight fast-forward (a month or so) so that we may be acquainted with Kira.
> 
> The story is (apparently) a slow progress, so it will contain at least 20 chapters.  
> Slight angst will probably be added as well.  
> The main pairing is L/Light, but it certainly won't be a "love-at-first-sight-let's-get-married" type of love.  
> It will have its ups and downs. I can tell you that much. Oh, and I'll try to keep the OC's at a minimum.  
> Probably the only OCs that will show up are Imai, the new Kira (won't tell you his name) and Ishii Mamoru.  
> 23770,26¥ (JPY) is approximately 206,57$ (USD).  
> "Bishōnen" [bi(sexual) + shōnen (boy)] is a play of words and is basically what people call "beautiful boys",  
> which may apply to adolescent males with feminine appearance/attributes.


	5. L's challenge

"Light? Are you home," Sachiko said as she closed the door, bringing her merchandises to the kitchen.

Feeling slight dread over what his mother's reaction may be when she would see him, Light didn't want to go downstairs.

'I might as well get it over with,' he thought to himself. 'I can't keep hiding in my room for ever.'

He walked down the stairs and entered the kitchen, seeing his mother stand next to the counter with her back turned on him. "Yes, mother?"

Sachiko turned to her son's voice and when she got a look at the figure that appeared to be her son, she startled dropped the shopping bags.

"L-light," she asked with her voice almost giving up on her. She covered her mouth with her hands and took a careful step closer to Light.

"Wha-... what's happened with you?" Light shook his head in slight annoyance. "Whatever do yo mean by that?"

Sachiko shook her head and lowered her hands to her chest and then walked up to her son, taking in his new clothes and hairstyle.

"I mean, your outfit. It's a little..." she paused, not finishing the sentence. Looking into her son's eyes that seemed to have changed colors, Sachiko could do nothing but stare in wonder. "Your hair... your,  _eyes_. I don't understand."

Light gritted his teeth, but decided that he had to speak up if he wanted his mother's acceptance. "I just... got  _weary_ , mother," he said.

"I got tired of having to pretend to be someone I neither can nor want to be. I just want to be me."

Adding the last part maybe was laying it on a bit too think, but it seemed to have worked as Sachiko just took a deep breath and slowly nodded in understanding.

"Okay," she replied hesitantly. "If that makes you happy... then, I guess it's all right by me." Light smiled softly at her and embraced her.

"Thank you, mother," he whispered, feeling grateful that his mother had taken the "news" much better than he had first thought she would.

Sachiko returned the hug, glad that her son had opened up to her, but still worried over how her husband would take the news.

Somehow, she didn't picture the rigid NPA detective to accept their son's radical change in fashion, not to mention that it made him seem much more feminine than before.

'It's the hair,' Sachiko thought as she glanced at the yellow and purple strands brushing against the side of her face. 'It must be the hair.'

 

Going to the school the next morning was another challenge for Light.

He noticed how people stopped walking to get a better look at him when they noticed that it was indeed the top A student they were seeing.

'Really,' Light grumbled to himself. 'I know that my changes in appearance is noticeable, but it's not _that_ strange, is it?'

Imai shrugged.  _"I don't think it is, but apparently, they do."_ Light was getting ready to enter the classroom when he felt a hand at his shoulder.

Turning his head, he was greeted by his childhood friend, Miyazaki Kisuke, who was grinning widely at him.

"All right, what's with the smiling, Kisuke," Light asked and arched an eyebrow. Kisuke shook his head, his black hair locks obscuring his gaze.

"Oh, it's nothing, Light," he said, with a tone sounding awfully amused. "Just didn't peg you for a fan of the crossdressing art."

Light sighed, feeling a headache raising. "I'm not," he let Kisuke know.

Kisuke raised his hands in mock surrender. "Hai, hai, whatever you say," he said with his smile never leaving his face.

He glanced towards the door to the classroom pointedly. "Well, shall we go in?" Light said nothing to that, but still nodded.

The two friends walked inside the room only to be greeted by silence, with all twenty student plus a frozen teacher staring at them.

'Oh, boy,' Light thought as he walked towards his seat with everyone's eyes burning holes in his back. 'This is going to be a  _long_ day.'

At the end of class, Light was about to step out of the classroom when his teacher Inoue called him back.

"Yagami-kun," Inoue began as the classroom was vacated with the exception of the two of them. "Is everything all right?"

Light blinked, confusion obvious in his young face as he made eye contact with his teacher. "Sensei?"

Inoue gestured towards his style of fashion pointedly. "Is there any reason as to why you chose not to have your uniform today? And the hair?"

In all honesty, Light couldn't figure out why he'd made such a blunder. What had he been thinking?

No _wonder_ people were staring at him all morning! "I'm sorry, sensei," he began to speak. "It won't happen again." Inoue just sighed at that.

If Light wouldn't tell him what's going on through his mind, then there was nothing more he could do about it.

"Ok, I will let it slide for now," he said, wanting to give the troubled teen a break.

"But if there's anything you'd like to talk about, _anything_ at all, then please, just come to me, I will listen."

Light nodded, he knew he'd been lucky to have a homeroom teacher as understanding and open minded as Inoue.

"Yes, sensei," he murmured. "I'll keep that in mind." Inoue nodded at that. "Good. Ok, then, off you go."

Light left the room while making a mental note to make positively sure that he was wearing his uniform for school the next day.

'Why didn't you say anything,' he asked his shinigami half testily.  _"Hey, no aggravation, huh,"_ Imai said slightly insulted.

_"You never asked, besides, you look much better in that outfit than you do in the school uniform. That one is too dull and boring."_

Light didn't bother to reply to that one. It was doubtful that Imai would be of a different opinion even if he had. It simply wasn't worth it.

 

_Meanwhile, at a hotel building in the east of Tokyo_

L stirred his tea, listening to the deputy chief of the FBI going over his report.

"So, none of the suspects have behaved in any way that could be incriminating?" The man on L's lap top screen shook his head in a negative.

 _"They have not,"_ was the Chief's reply.  _"How should we proceed?"_ L bit his thumb in contemplation. "Tell them to step back," he said slowly and glanced at the ID in the portfolio. "Except for this man," he said and showed the portfolio to the Chief.

Nodding in understanding, the chief inquired, _"He's the one tailing the kid, innit?"_

L cocked his head to the side. "Is that a problem?" The man shrugged and then the screen turned blank.

 

The ringtone of Khi xưa ta bé brought Light out of his musings and he glanced at the caller's name on the screen before answering.

"Yes?" The caller laughed slightly.  _"Are you busy?"_ Light shrugged. "Not really," he answered. "Why?"

 _"Can you meet me at "The Lockup" in... 2 hours,"_ he asked Light. Light arched an eyebrow. 

"Sorry, but I don't feel like going out for a drink," he told his friend. Especially not to a bar themed as a prison.

 _"Aw, come on~!,"_ the voice on the other end whined.  _"You never go out to have fun nowadays!"_

'Well, what do you think,' Light asked his other half. Imai shrugged.  _"Personally I don't care, but it certainly would be an interesting kink."_

Imai chuckled.  _"I had no idea that you were interested in stuff like that."_ Light shook his head. 'I'm not,' he told Imai.

 _"Light? Are you still there,"_ the caller asked. "Yes, I am," Light answered. "Look, I don't want to go there, but if you really want to have a night out, then why don't we go to _Shidax_ or _Big Echo_?" The voice chuckled slightly before agreeing to Light's proposition.

 _"Shidax, one hour from now,"_ he said and then hung up.

 

One hour later, Light was waiting outside of Shidax, in a loose fitting tux.

Perhaps it was a bit formal for the occasion, but Light had little wish to spend the evening in the bar wearing unisex clothes.

 "Hi, Light," a voice called out to him. "Have you waited long?" Light turned his gaze towards the running figure.

He had, but he didn't voice his annoyance. Kisuke was almost always late. "Not really," he said evasively, and opened the door.

Kisuke shrugged, not caring for Light's white lie and stepped inside the karaoke bar. 

The two friends sat down at an empty booth, and looked through the songs' menu.

"How about this one," Kisuke asked and pointed towards a song title.

Light's nose crinkled. "No, not that one," he objected and turned another page, with his gaze lingering on the title of his favorite song.

"How about this one," he asked Kisuke. Kisuke shook his head. "I don't feel like singing that one," he replied but smiled slightly.

"However, you can, if you don't mind going solo." With that, Kisuke snapped his fingers, to catch the attention of a waiter.

Light shrugged, but got out of his chair, grabbing a microphone while waiting for the music to be turned on.

As the instrumentals were getting to the point where the vocals was to be added, Light drew a deep breath.

 _Khi xưa đôi ta bé ta chơi,_  
Đôi ta chơi bắn súng khơi khơi  
Chơi công an đi bắt quân gian,  
Hiên ngang anh giơ súng ngay tim: Bang! Bang!

His crystal clear vocals echoed in the otherwise silent room, and Kisuke took a zip of his glass of coke

as his friend's soothing voice caressed his eardrums. Light barely noticed heads turn to look in his direction as he sang through the song.

 _Anh đã ra đi: Bang! Bang!_  
Em sẽ bơ vơ: Bang! Bang!  
Tiếng súng khi xưa: Bang! Bang!  
Ta sẽ không quên bao giờ...

Light breathed out the last line "Ta sẽ không quên bao giờ" with a soothing but sad tone, and then the music stopped.

He raised his gaze as the sound of clapping echoed throughout the room. A tall figure was leaning onto the doorframe,

clapping his hands for a few seconds more before letting his hands fall to his sides.

"Well, what are the odds that we would meet again at a place like this," Mamoru said with a small smile adorning his face.

Light shrugged. He had never expected to meet the man again, but it would seem that fate had other plans for them.

Light turned his head and glanced briefly at the waiter's direction, and by doing so missing the look Kisuke secretly threw in Mamoru's way.

If he'd seen it, Light would have been surprised; the way Kisuke was staring at Mamoru was anything but friendly.

 

**_A month later_ **

 

The man stopped his typing when the sound of the program he'd been listening to was turned off. 'What the?'

He opened up the window to see a notice saying that the scheduled program would be interrupted for a special broadcast.

'Special broadcast,' he wondered to himself. 'What's going on now?' The blue screen blackened and a news reporter holding a few notes in his hands said, _"Uh, apologies for the interruption, people. We now bring you a live worldwide broadcast from the ICPO, Interpol."_

'Interpol? What's going on?' The shinigami shared his confusion as he said, "Hm? What's this?"

The man shook his head. "I don't know, Ryuk. I don't know."

The man, Kira, watched as the screen tuned out the news reporter only to be replaced by a man sitting at a table with a name tag on top of it.

The man on the screen took a shallow breath and began to speak. Kira shook his head at L's foolery. 'Who _is_ this clown?'

 

Listening to Lind .L. Tailor's introduction, Light couldn't help but smile.

This was the moment where L was going to make his presence known and reveal the killer's whereabouts.

He instantly felt much better.  _"Hey, Light,"_ Imai said as he noticed how Light's mood changed.  _"Is this L Lawliet?"_ Light shook his head.

'No, but Kira thinks he is,' he told Imai, this time around amused by the situation unlike the first time where L's deceit had rendered him speechless and blazing of fury.

 

L glanced down briefly before raising his gaze and opened his mouth to speak. _"_ _I guarantee that I will find the ringleader or "Kira"._

_This being will be brought to justice."_

Ryuk chuckled at that proclamation said in a way that made it seem like L had stated an undisputable fact. "Hyuk, hyuk," Ryuk chuckled.

"He guarantees that you'll be caught." Kira stared dispassionately at the screen of his laptop, unable to process what he'd just heard.

"I'll be caught..? Hah! Like  _hell_ I will," Kira stated with passion as his thoughts lingered on the black notebook in his desk.

"You don't have a lick of proof to apprehend me, much less  _prosecute_ me." He shook his head in response to L's idiocy.

"I honestly thought you'd be more intelligent than this, L, but it seems as though you are  _just_ as useless to me like the rest of the world!"

 _"Kira, I think I got an understanding of **why** you are doing_ this," L said and stared into the screen as if he could see Kira standing in front of him.  _"But **what** you are doing... is  **evil**!"_

Kira shook his head, surprised by L's unashamed proclamation.

"Me? Evil," the human snarled unhappily to L's statement. "Hah! We'll see about that!"

He pulled out his most beloved accessory from a drawer and put it in front of him on the desk,

flipping up an empty side and began scribbling fervently.

Glancing at his watch, Kira sat passively in silence as L's life was burning out. 3... 2... 1...

"Show time," he hissed with glee as the person on the television put his hands on top of his chest in a gesture of obvious pain.

He saw L slump over the table, and the low chuckles gave away for a crazed laughter.

Between his laughter he gathered enough air to wheeze out, "Too bad for him, shinigami, but this was the end of him!"

 

Meanwhile, Light stared at the screen. _"This is bad, isn't it Light,"_ Imai said pointedly. Light on the other hand shook his head in a negative.

'No, this is good. This is perfect. This will give L all the clues he needs before _we_ can approach him.' 

Imai said nothing to Light's statement, but figured that if Light was okay with what had just happened, then there was no need to worry.

_"If you say so, Light, if you say so . For better or for worse, I trust you."_

 

Kira watched with glee as two uniformed persons started to drag L off screen. He shook his head and just smiled. 

Exposing his power in front of the whole world, maybe wasn't how he'd imagined this day to turn out when he'd woken up this morning,

but it wasn't that bad a notion. It was perfect, even. 'They will all know their savior, they will all bow down to Kira's rule.'

His thoughts was cut off by the distorted voice of a being claiming to be the real L.

Kira gritted his teeth vehemently as he listened to L's challenge. 'That _rat_ think he stands a chance against  _me,_ does he?'

His shoulders slouched slightly as he banged his hands on his desk in anger. He shook uncontrollably and muttered;

"I'll eradicate him... I'll kill him.. and then I'll stand on the top _laughing_!"

'Jeez,' the shinigami Ryuk thought slightly impressed as he studied Kira's back. 'This human's wickedness really knows no bounds, does he?'

Ryuk hardly ever was impressed over anything, but the self proclaimed "God of the new world" was too charismatic and foul to ignore.

'Hyuk, hyuk,' Ryuk chuckled to himself. 'I guess with this 'L' person, my fun will be taken to a whole new level.'

 

 Turning off the television, Light lied down onto his bed with his head resting in his arms.

'So, how are we supposed to get L's attention,' Light asked Imai, lightly yawning and covered his mouth with one hand.

_"Hmm... by pretending to be Kira?"_

'....'

 _"That was a joke, learn to recognize them,"_ Imai chuckled. 

_"Well, I don't suppose we can go to his hotel and tell him 'Hello, I know Kira's secret - and your real name too by the way - but don't worry,_

_I don't plan to tell him your identity either. Let's be friends!'"_ Light shook his head.

'No, at best case scenario, we'll get thrown in the loony-bin. At worst, they'll think we really  _are_ Kira and try to put us in prison.'

Imai mulled over the thought for a while. He knew that Light had a point, and he had little wish to be put behind bars for someone else's crimes, but there was still the fact that L would need their help if he was to apprehend the real Kira. The  _real_ Kira?

Imai chuckled. Why hadn't he thought of that before? _"Light, I think I got it."_ Light arched an eyebrow. 'Really? Well, I'm all ears.'

 _"In your previous lifetime, you were Kira and L suspected you, right?"_ Oh, how clever he was.  _"Wouldn't that mean that he will suspect you this time around as well?"_

Light shook his head slightly, surprised by the shinigami's insight. 'Yes? But how would that...' The simplicity of the solution made him speechless.

He wouldn't have to do anything for L to move in closer, L would do it for him. And when the cameras and microphones were surveilling his room, given that it will happen the same way as before, he could reveal some of his knowledge. L wouldn't be able to ignore that.

A satisfied smirk adorned his face as he moved his gaze away from the screen towards the ceiling. It would all go in their favor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, Kira has made his first appearance! And yes, his ego is about the size of a planet.  
> L makes a small cameo, however next chapter will see much more of him. Promise!  
> Ah.. yes, Light going to school in civvies without noticing it seems rather OOC,  
> but at least it's a notch better than in my first draft where he not only told Kisuke that he didn't think  
> that his style was to be considered crossdressing but merely unisex (implying that he indeed was aware of it)  
> but still didn't realize he wasn't wearing his school uniform until the point where Inoue inquired him about it.  
> Can't believe I almost overlooked that bobo. *sigh*
> 
> "Khi xưa ta bé" is the Vietnamese version of "Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)".  
> "The Lockup" is a themed bar and restaurant in Tokyo, which is sort of like having dinner in the London Dungeon.  
> "Shidax" and "Big Echo" are two popular karaoke bars.


End file.
